TRENTON – New Jersey property taxes increased at their fastest rate in three years in 2014.

New Jersey's average residential property tax bill, already the highest in the nation, jumped by 2.2 percent last year to $8,161, according to annual property tax data compiled and released by the state Department of Community Affairs. The average tab had grown 1.3 percent in 2013, 1.6 percent in 2012 and 2.4 percent in 2011.

Factor in the impact of the delay in property tax credits, which weren't paid in 2014, and the increase averaged 8.6 percent, or $646.

Some of the sharpest tax increases occurred in Shore towns devastated from superstorm Sandy, including 20 percent in Mantoloking, 14 percent in Toms River and 12 percent in Sea Bright. The increases occurred despite federally funded programs that make forgivable loans and aid available to offset the impact of property value declines — losses that force a greater tax burden onto surviving properties.

Tax increases were not as sharp in Central Jersey, where some municipalities saw decreases in their average tax bill.

To find out how your town fared, find the complete list at the end of this story.

The average West Amwell tax declined 14 percent to $7,540, while Piscataway's average fell 6.9 percent to $6,951.

Union County had one of the highest average tax bills at $10,241, a 3.1 percent increase.

Hunterdon County inched up 0.6 percent to $9,020. Middlesex's average climbed 1.9 percent to $7,541. And Somerset's average rose 2.1 percent to $9,269.

Central Jersey towns with some of the highest average increases included Warren Township with a 3.9 percent increase to $13,475, Bedminster with a 4.4 percent increase to $5,860, and Highland Park with a 4.6 percent increase to $10,477.

The priciest average tax bill was in Summit, at $16,623, a 1.2 percent increase.

Jerry Cantrell, president of the conservative think tank Common Sense Institute of New Jersey, said people leave New Jersey because of their property tax bill and that exemptions to the 2 percent cap and last year's suspension of the tax credit program make things even harder.

"It's not just people with bucket loads of money, it's people who are retiring from their state jobs, etc., that look around," Cantrell said. "Some of it is historical. Why not move to a warmer climate, be near kids and family? But it really is becoming noncompetitive. When you put everything on top of the average person, they just can't afford to stay."

Gov. Chris Christie's administration delayed the payment of property tax credits last spring due to a state budget shortfall. Those credits had averaged a bit over $470 in 2012 and 2013, but the payment that was supposed to have been made last year was pushed off to May 2015.

Mike Proto, spokesman for the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, said New Jersey property taxes will remain high unless the school funding formula is changed to shift money away from cities and toward the suburbs.

"While we're glad to see a rate of increase that's still low compared to what we'd seen over the past decade and a half, we would much rather see property taxes coming down. They're still far too high. They're a major reason why people and businesses continue to leave New Jersey," Proto said.

Property owners statewide were billed a combined $27.1 billion for property taxes in 2014, which was $610 million more than they paid a year earlier. The total levy had grown by $450 million in 2013 and $407 million in 2012.

School tax levies rose $309 million, or 2.2 percent, the most since 2010. Municipal tax levies increased $206 million, or 2.6 percent, the most since 2011. And county tax levies climbed $95 million, 2 percent, the most since 2009.

The DCA data also showed the average residential property value in the state increased in 2014 after declining each of the previous two years. The average value was $295,869, up 1 percent from one year earlier though still below the peak of $299,014 recorded in 2011.